Friend Of A Friend
by eyelinerprincess
Summary: Beck hasn't heard or seen Tori for months, ever since she walked out the door. But then he bumps into a friend of a friend who knows all about her. Rated T so far, as possible language later on. Based on the Tim McGraw song of the same name.
1. Chapter 1

**_I heard this song the other day and just had to do something with it. So here it is – Friend Of A Friend. It'll be at least four parts, so watch this space!_**

 _I heard it from a friend of a friend_ _  
_ _You're livin' out in LA now_ _  
_ _Got a studio apartment, couple blocks off the beach_ _  
_ _Doing yoga in the evenings, you love the kids you teach_

I collapsed on the sofa in the far corner of the coffee shop and glanced around, checking that no one had noticed me come in. Pulling out the script that had been delivered to me fresh that morning, I placed it on the table and reread the title again. _Sunshine Lovers._ Sounded like a B-list romantic comedy, but my agent had assured me that the leads were A-listers, and that playing the lead's best friend would catapult me from B to A in weeks. Not that I had any reason to disbelieve him, but it did seem a bit twee. But hey, I said I'd look over it, so here I am.

The waitress placed my coffee in front of me, and I gave her a quick smile before turning the page. I'd just started to read the first couple of lines when a shadow passed over me.

"Beck? Beck Oliver?" It asked, and I groaned inwardly, but outwardly prepared a smile. Couldn't a guy have a coffee in peace without being disturbed?!

"Hey!" I glanced up at the woman in front of me. "How are you doing?" She looked familiar, but then again, I met a lot of people.

"I'm OK thanks. I'm Jess, we met at Cat's party?" She prompted, and I nodded.

"Of course! You look great!" I said as I sipped my coffee. "How's the songwriting going?" I asked.

"Great, I've practically written the whole score of a new Disney Channel movie. Nothing fancy, but hey, it's a living. And you..new script?" She glanced at the papers on the table.

"Yeah, I don't know if I'm gonna take it yet, but it's always nice to be asked, right?"

"Of course. Hey, guess who I saw in Long Beach? Tori Vega! God, I haven't seen her in months, have you?" I tried to bite my lip. I hadn't seen her in around six months either, not since she threw her engagement ring back at me and stormed out of the apartment, screaming that she never wanted to see me ever again. She was doing a pretty good job of it so far.

"No, not for a while." I managed to force out. "How's she doing?" I found myself asking.

"She looks pretty great, the coast seems to be good to her. She's got a studio apartment facing the beach – not on it, a couple of blocks behind, but it's a lovely place. She was actually bringing in a couple of kids to audition for the movie. She's teaching drama and music down there, and she seems to love it. You can tell she really cares for the kids she teaches." Jess told me, and I could only nod. It was just like her to be doing something like that, she always loved kids. We were going to have some one day – two girls and a boy.

"She still going out partying all the time?" I pressed, and Jess shook her head.

"She does yoga!" She exclaimed. OK, were we talking about the same person here? Yoga?

"Really?"  
"Yup, three times a week. She looks amazing for it." She informed me. She went to open her mouth again, but was interrupted by the waitress who handed her a takeaway cup. "Sorry, I better go, was great seeing you again!"

"You too." I replied, and she dug out a business card from her pocket and handed it to me.  
"If you're ever in a movie and you need some music, give me a call." She smiled before disappearing out the door as quickly as she'd arrived. I picked up my script again, but somehow I couldn't quite concentrate on it at all. My head was spinning, so I stuffed it back into my bag. No rush, I had all week. I could read it later.


	2. Chapter 2

_I heard it from a friend of a friend_  
 _You met somebody in a coffee shop_  
 _You've been goin' out now, for goin' on ten months_  
 _You already met his family, things are heatin' up_

The phone went straight to voicemail. Just typical. "Hey, this is Jess, I can't answer your call right now but leave a message after the beep and I'll get back to you!" Her voice called.

"Hey Jess, it's Beck, remember me? Anyway, I''m looking for a favour. I've got two tickets to the movie premiere in a couple of weeks, two weeks today actually, and I'm a loser that can't find a date. So would you do me the honour of your company for one night? Please? I'm actually on my knees begging here." I laughed. "Anyway, let me know as soon as you can, alright?" I finished, and then hung up. Well, who else _was_ I going to take? She was pretty much the only friend I had in town lately. I'd lost track of a lot of people from Hollywood Arts, and those I hadn't lost touch with were either really busy these days or out of state.

Collapsing on the sofa, I flicked the TV on. Anything for a distraction. By all accounts, I should have been going with Tori. We should have been on our honeymoon right at that moment. A three week tour around Europe – London, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Oslo...Not searching my phone book for a pity date to take to see my own movie.

Flicking through the music channels (which I knew could be dangerous depending which song was on), I stopped when a familiar face filled the screen. Worldwide mega-star Jade West. Believe it or not, she had mellowed out since we'd graduated, and had made a career with just her voice and acoustic guitar.

My phone started ringing, waking me from my thoughts.

"Yo!" I called into it.

"You're not a loser at all." Were the first words Jess said, and I half-smiled. "And yes, of course I'll go with you. How are you doing?" She asked, and I made some non-committal noise. "OK, what's up?"  
I hesitated in telling her, but then thought, really, what harm would it do? Telling her my sad tale, she listened patiently, and then sighed at the end.

"You know it's been a year." She stated.

"Yeah." I relented. "I know, I just-"

"There's no good time to say this, but she's with someone else, Beck." She broke softly, but I felt a tug in my chest as the words processed through my brain.

"How-how long?" I whispered.

"Almost ten months. I only found out last week, I bumped into her and we got talking. She met him in a coffee shop out there. I'm sorry, Beck. I know you still love her, but it's time to move on." She replied, but I was barely listening. She was seeing someone. And not long after we broke up too. I had been still hurting and she had been meeting guys in coffee shops. I bet he's bigger than me. Better looking too. Not to mention richer, funnier. I bet had a yacht or a speedboat that they went sailing in all the time.

"Beck, are you listening?" Jess' voice was still on the line but it seemed like it was somewhere in the distance.  
"Yeah, I'm here."

"I'll call you later, OK?" She asked, and I nodded, forgetting she couldn't see me.

"Yeah, OK. Talk to you later." I murmured and she hung up. Maybe Jess was right, maybe I needed to move on and forget about Tori. But it really wasn't that easy, I mean she _was_ the love of my life. But I suppose if she could, then so could I.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to everyone who's read so far and is still here. Apologies for taking so long for the next part. Just one(ish) more to go! If you haven't already, please check out my recently uploaded one-shot, Cop Car.**

 _I heard it from a friend of a friend_ _  
_ _You looked amazing in that long white gown_ _  
_ _With flowers in your hair, barefoot in the sand_ _  
_ _Your daddy almost broke down when he gave away your hand_

I sat on the balcony of the hotel room and stared out at the city. London sprawled out in front of me, looking as if it never ended, the lights seemed to go on forever. It had been almost fourteen months since that day, the day that was supposed to have been our wedding day, the day that I found out she had been seeing someone else. She would have loved it here, all the noise, the food, the smells of a new city. The sights, the architecture...she would have gone to Buckingham Palace just to see if the Queen was there and to try and spot her sitting at one of the windows.

I guess you're wondering what I was doing in England. Well, after the release of Sunshine Lovers, as promised, my career gained so much speed, I could barely keep up. I'd filmed two movies since then, one I'd literally just wrapped up the week before, and the other had brought me here to do promo on all the big TV shows. Most of which so far seemed to be first thing in the morning. Apparently breakfast TV is a big thing over here, who knew? So now it was 8pm, I was exhausted from going from studio to studio, and I just wanted to settle down with a beer and stare out at the view.

Turning my ipad on, I waited for it to connect to the hotel wifi and logged onto my Facebook page, and as soon as I did, my heart stopped. Photos filled the screen, a seemingly endless stream from everyone I knew. I stared at the first one silently. The first thing I noticed was Tori in a long white dress, barefoot on a beach in California, her hair flowing down to her shoulders, white flowers placed on each side of her head. She was laughing, at something that her new husband had said. I'd made a conscious effort not to find out anything about him, but there he was on the screen. He was older, probably mid-30s, toned, tanned with blond hair which had been shaved right back at the sides and a little longer at the front. There was no denying it, he was just as handsome as I'd thought he would be. And judging by the photos, rich too. The wedding and the reception looked so extravagant that it must have cost a few million to put together.

I hovered over the comments button then tapped on it to see who had left notes. Jade, Cat, Andre, Robbie, Sinjin...in fact, almost everyone we went to school with had left some kind of message saying how much of a great time they'd had there and how cute it was that her dad had tears in his eyes when he walked her down the makeshift aisle. And here was me, thousands of miles away, blissfully unaware of what had gone on. Well, until now.

I had to leave something, I knew I did. She'd figure out that I'd seen it, and even though we weren't "Facebook Friends" anymore, I felt I had to send something.

"Congratulations, you look beautiful..." No, I couldn't say beautiful. Deleting the last word, I went on. "...great, glad everyone had a great time, card's in the post. B x" I pressed send before I chickened out, then sat the tablet down. I had seen enough. Hearing a ping, I picked it back up again and pressed the messenger icon to see Jade's face staring at me.

"Hey, how are you doing?" I read, and quickly replied.

"Great, in London enjoying the view. Enjoy the wedding?"

"Yeah, it was awesome, I guess you didn't know? :-( She didn't mention anything about you not coming." Jade replied.

"No, but hey, couldn't have come anyway. I've a movie to promote."

"Oh yeah, big hotshot actor now ;-) don't forget about us little people when you come back. Some of us are meeting up for kind of a reunion dinner so you better come."

"I will, it's getting late here, I better head to bed*yawn*" I lied, hoping that she wouldn't realise that with the time difference it was only ten past eight.  
"OK, gimme a call when you're back. Night x"

"Night" I typed before logging off heading inside, placing the tablet beside the TV. Collapsing onto the bed, I switched the TV on to see what looked like a bunch of people screaming at each other, one covered in cuts and bruises. Ah British soap operas, at least it was a means of taking my mind off of things, even if I had no idea what was going on.


	4. Chapter 4

_I heard it from a friend of a friend_ _  
_ _He didn't mean it when he took those vows_ _  
_ _You've been stayin' with your mama, a couple weeks now_ _  
_ _Been asking everybody about me_

Another year gone by, another year of being painfully single. Sure, there have been the odd press set-ups and pity dates but nothing remotely serious. The longest one lasted, ooh, about a month before we broke up (she left me for someone richer, better-looking and more famous than me – I should have known from the first date to be honest). So here I was, back at home, back in the same old cafe in Hollywood, same sofa, another fresh script in my bag. I settled down and started reading it. I got a few pages in, and it looked pretty good. It was a horror movie, a clean break from everything I'd done before, and my character was supposed to start out as a good guy, but get slowly darker as the movie went on.

Feeling someone sit beside me, I didn't look up, but just muttered something about there being a free seat at the next table.

"Oh, I know, but my friends dared me to come and sit beside the famous Beck Oliver." A familiar voice replied, and my head shot up to meet Jade's shining eyes.

"Hey!" I smiled, pulling her into a hug. "How are you doing? I haven't seen you in months!" I exclaimed.

"I know, too busy for us little people." She laughed, and before I knew it, Andre, Cat, Robbie and Sinjin had crowded round the table. "I thought we might find you here. We tried your apartment but you weren't there. I even checked your bedroom. Nice place by the way." I started to ask how she had managed to get into my apartment, but thought it better not to. All I know is that for as long as I've known her, I've known she has ways and means of managing to do whatever she wants, and she's never changed.

We must have sat there for about an hour, drinking coffee after coffee, just catching up with everything that had happened since we had last seen each other (which was about eight or nine months before), then all of a sudden, Jade got this wild look in her eye, one I'd seen many times before. I never knew what was going to come after she got it, but usually I didn't want to hear it.

"So, how's your love life?" She asked, and I shrugged.

"Oh, you know, non-existent as usual." I confessed.  
"Really? Well, you know that I've been talking to your old buddy, Tori." My ears pricked up at her name. Yes, I am pathetic, it has been that long and her name still gives me shivers. "Turns out the whole fairytale happy ever after wedding wasn't all it was cracked up to be." I stared at her. "Turns out Mr High-Flying wonderboy was sleeping with his secretary, and he just wanted Tori to be a pretty piece on his arm at all these fancy parties. She's moved back in with her mom. She's asked about you a few times." She finished, and my mouth dropped open. I glanced at the others for some kind of confirmation, but their faces were all pretty much mirroring Jade's words. Excusing myself, I grabbed my bag, left a twenty on the table and ran out of there.

Her mom's house was only a few blocks away, but I took a cab there, knowing that if I walked, I'd get halfway and realise how crazy I actually was. That realisation only came when stood at the front door and lifted my hand to ring the doorbell. My heart thumping, my finger made contact with the button, and I pressed it before listening to the commotion behind the door. It seemed to take an eternity for someone to come, and the door opened slowly.

"Beck!" The figure behind the door exclaimed. "How are you? Come in!"

"Thanks Mrs Vega." I replied, following her into the living room. "Is-"

"Tori! You have a visitor!" She called upstairs, and before I knew what I was saying, I'd said "Don't worry, I'll go." And bounded up the stairs two at a time. Stopping on the landing, we both froze when we saw each other and stared silently for a moment. I knew I had to be the first to talk, but honestly, I didn't know what to say.


	5. Chapter 5

"Tori Vega." I was the first to break the awkward silence. "I heard a rumour that you were back but I had to see it for myself." I said, and she nodded.

"Who told you?" She whispered.

"Jade. So how are you doing?" I asked. She didn't reply, but nodded towards her room. Following her inside, she closed the door behind her and I sat on the edge of the bed. She tentatively sat beside me and glanced into my eyes.

"Well, I'm divorced after less than a year, I'm back with my parents because I gave up my amazing apartment to go and live with someone who claimed he loved me and then slept with his slut of a secretary behind my back, oh, and Trina is actually doing better than I am. So how do you think I am?" She ranted, and I wrapped my arm around her back. To my surprise, she didn't push me away. I pulled her in closer when I realised that tears were falling down her cheeks, and she buried her head into my shoulder.

"Ssh, it's alright." I soothed.

"It's not alright!" She jumped away from me and yelled. "My life is over! Who's gonna want some bitter divorcee that couldn't stay married for a year and lives with her mom?"

"Well, you never know. This is California. Some rich, handsome movie star, who never quite got over you, by the way, might sweep you off your feet one day and take you to live in his amazing apartment with three dogs, two cats and a goldfish." I smiled slightly and she stared at me. "Not me, obviously. I only date virgins now. See, I've joined this new religion and that's like one of the top rules." I replied, completely deadpan. I swore I saw a smile play on her lips.

"Really?" She asked, and I nodded.

"Yup. Well, unless you join this religion too. Then you can become born again."

"Well, what would that entail?" I thought about that for a moment, then replied.

"It's really hard. You'd have to...get naked at midnight on the first full moon of the month. Exactly at the stroke of midnight, not before. Then drink a potion that's so sacred that only the leaders know what's in it. Tastes like crap of course, but it's worth it. Then you have to eat a special brownie, bathe in water specially imported from the hills of Alaska, and then go to bed. And once you wake up, you'll be pure." She laughed slightly, and I saw something in her eyes that I hadn't seen in a long time.

"OK, I'll do it." She confirmed, and then thought for a second. "But you know, three dogs...That's a lot of exercise."

"Yeah, but it'll do you good." I laughed as I helped her up. "Coffee?" I asked, and she nodded. "I know this great little place..."


End file.
